Since ancient times, emperors have had multiple concubines in addition to their queens, how could one marry just one person? Duanhua had never heard of this.
"Why not?" Yan Huisheng looked at her, "There are countless offspring in the Imperial Court. The Yan family does not lack descendants. If you can bear children, I will have children with you to inherit the country. If you can’t bear children, we can simply adopt from the royal family."
Duanhua twitched at the corners of her mouth and blurted out, "I’m in excellent health. Since childhood, my mother has taken great care of me. I get examined by a physician on a monthly basis. There’s no reason I can’t have a child."
After saying this, her face turned red, and she hurriedly tried to cover it up, "No...I mean you have so many women in the Eastern Palace. With so many now, why wouldn’t you have multiple concubines in the future?"
Yan Huisheng rubbed his temples and candidly confessed, "I’ve never touched those women."
Duanhua’s eyes widened, her faith in life shaken, "Really?"
"Really."
"You...you don’t have any undisclosed conditions, do you?"
Despite the vein pulsing in Yan Huisheng’s forehead, he forced out through gritted teeth, "I do not."
Duanhua shrunk her neck in and whispered: "I was merely curious. I’m somewhat incredulous now that you’ve said that. Why...why is that so?"
Why does a prince not enjoy the beauty of women? Didn’t he only fall for Su Rong last year?
Yan Huisheng took a deep breath and explained, "I don’t want my future wife to lead a life as challenging as my mother’s was, living in the depths of the palace."
Duanhua suddenly understood, "Oh, my aunt did have a tough time over the years, she was nearly killed several times."
Yan Huisheng looked at her, "I’ve told you everything I can. Think about it."
Duanhua nodded. Her head felt dizzy, "Okay...okay, I’ll think about it seriously."
Seeing her bewildered look, Yan Huisheng almost laughed, said nothing more, and left.
Duanhua felt dizzy. This time, she didn’t grab his arm and stop him from leaving. Her head was about to explode from thinking. After wracking her brain for a long time, she hadn’t come to a clear conclusion. She screamed in her heart a few times but gave up and decided to go back to bed and sleep.
She’d think about it tomorrow.
As Yan Huisheng stepped out of Duanhua’s courtyard, he felt somewhat crazy. For years, he had watched Duanhua pester Zhou Gu. He had rebuked and punished her for barging into the Eastern Palace, but she remained stubborn.
The worst incident he could remember was when she had wept openly in front of him, professing her love for Zhou Gu, saying she would rather die than not marry him. He was tempted to hand her a sword and end all her misery.
But she was his only cousin, beyond the love and indulgence of his parents, she possessed a charm when not pestering Zhou Gu. Her sweet words and petulant behavior earned her affection and annoyance in equal measure.
There was a period when he contemplated advising Zhou Gu to just marry her, but Zhou Gu declined emphatically, fleeing from the Capital City. Realizing persuasion was futile, Yan Huisheng dropped the subject.
Now, she is desperate to get married and even has high demands: she wants a handsome man. If he were to issue an imperial decree choosing a handsome husband for her, he would likely be ridiculed and criticized by everyone for indulging Duanhua’s playfulness.
Once the news of his indulgence towards Duanhua spread, it would be difficult to retrieve his reputation.
He was also being pressured by the Emperor and Empress concerning his own marriage. Grand Tutor Qin had been urging him for years. Ministers in the court were covertly probing him, wanting to offer their daughters as his princess. Late today, a few influential court officials had urged him to choose a wife and multiply his offspring. Trapped and unable to argue, he returned to the Eastern Palace, only to be bothered by Duanhua again.
Frustrated, he saw that she was desperate to get married, and he too was desperate to marry. Besides her looks, she had no high demands and didn’t mind his attraction to Su Rong. He didn’t ask for much from her either. After all, he had known her since childhood, and it might be easier than having to adapt to a new princess whose background and behavior were unknown to him.
With that thought, Yan Huisheng sighed lightly. Walking home under the cold wind, his mind was clear. He had no regrets about his decision, and actually thought that if she agreed, the solution seemed feasible. It would solve two major predicaments at once.
The next morning, when Yan Huisheng woke up and went to court, he still had no regrets about the proposed situation.
Duanhua thought she was doomed. She didn’t think she would be able to sleep at all but surprisingly; she fell asleep quickly. It may be because she had waited for Yan Huisheng for too long and was mentally exhausted from trying to convince him to issue an imperial decree to select a husband. She dozed off shortly after laying down.
When she woke up, the day was already bright.
The maidservant who cared for Duanhua saw her wake up, hurried into the room to serve her, and said softly, "My lady, the princess sent someone over to ask if you were successful in persuading the crown prince last night?"
Duanhua wanted to scream again, and after a few screams, she hurriedly said, "Quickly, we must return home. I have something important to tell my mother."
The maid nodded, swiftly helped Duanhua prepare, and without even having breakfast, Duanhua rushed home.
Little Chengzi was running after them, trying to send them politely to the palace gate, but could not keep up. She muttered under her breath, "Oh! Why is the princess in such a hurry? This is too frantic."
Qin Luan was intentionally trying to investigate the situation with Little Chengzi, "Why was the princess staying in the Eastern Palace yesterday?"
She had been attending to tasks in the study and had not encountered Duanhua. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺
Little Chengzi explained, "The princess came to find the Crown Prince. He didn’t return for a long time, and it was already late at night, so she just decided to stay in the Eastern Palace."
Qin Luan asked quietly, "Was it a very important matter?"
Little Chengzi shook his head, "I don’t know what it was."
Actually, he did know that yesterday, in the Princess’ residence, the Princess was pestering the Crown Prince to issue an imperial edict to select a handsome husband. Although they servants had all kept their distance, they had listened in. Despite only catching snippets of the conversation, they were shocked. Who could have thought that Duanhua, the princess who had been indulged since childhood and criticized for her antics, could potentially become the mother of the Eastern Palace?
The Crown Prince himself probably hadn’t expected it.
The Crown Prince issued an order that everyone was to keep silent about this matter. Even if he had a hundred times the courage, he would never dare to disclose it.
Qin Luan did not doubt Little Chengzi’s ignorance and laughed, "The princess’ temperament remains the same. It seems to have changed somewhat, but in reality, it hasn’t changed much."
"Indeed." Little Chengzi thought that the princess was always stubborn in achieving her goals from childhood to adulthood. The Crown Prince knew about her temperament; without his agreement, she would persist until the end. Who else besides the princess would dare to grab the Crown Prince’s arm and not let go? At that time, all the servants attending to the Crown Prince were fearful.
The Crown Prince, on the other hand, had nothing to do but bear it, and after rubbing his temples for the third time, he decided to take a gamble.
With this in mind, Little Chengzi thought to himself, the life of Crown Prince was not easy.
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